G.I. Joe Weather Dominator DVD Battle Pack

The thing that really sold me on this battle pack was the look of the figures. Because this a DVD pack the figures take on a little more of the cartoon look than some of the other versions. Lady Jaye has her cartoon hair. Roadblock has his camo wife beater and orange pants.  Destro has the big collar and grey boots. In short, classic versions of each of these characters.

I remember my introduction to Lady Jaye was in the comics, rather than the cartoon. I only picked up a few of the Marvel GI Joe run. One of them happened to be issue 34, though. This issue has Ace and Lady Jaye in a Skystriker facing off against Wild Weasel and Baroness in a Rattler. Since she's sitting in the RIO seat of the Skystriker, you mostly see just her head the whole issue. 

 One thing I will say about this Lady Jaye figure is that she has a military look. Greens and browns make up her color palate to good effect. She's also got the disheveled hair that she wore on the cartoon over the ball cap the vintage figure wore. A much better look. 

The sculpt of this figure is good in the generic way most of the new Joe figures are. There's enough detail to keep you interested but not so much the figure couldn't be put into service as a repaint.  Unlike a number of the male figures, her web gear is sculpted on save her gun belt and holster, which is a separate piece.  This lends a bit to the freedom of motion. There is a knife sculpted on one ankle and small pistol on the other. Other details include the wings on her chest.

The paint is where this figure has a couple of small let downs. At her neck and gloves the flesh tone isn't perfect. Also there is a tiny stray brown dot on her chin. Since it's below the corner of her mouth it looks like tobacco juice she forgot to spit. Her eyes don't help this look giving her an angry look. Not the worst eyes I've seen on figure this size, but less than perfect we will say.

The other thing that is less than perfect with this version of Jaye is her hip joints.  Now this just might be mine, but her hips are extremely loose (There are a number of jokes to put here, but I will avoid them). I will say getting pictures of her without a stand was more than difficult.  She did stand slightly better without her gear, but the hip joints just don't want to hold steady and she certainly wouldn't stand up after any little jostle.

Next up is that famous fire fighter from Japan wearing his trademark orange pants.  Wait.  The orange pants threw me off. (Google "Takeda" and "Sasuke" if you don't get that.) This is the GI Joe famous for his orange pants, among other things. 

Roadblock is the B.A. Baracus of the Joe team.  He talks in rhyme, carries a BFG, and is generally a badass. This version gives us a figure that in both size and muscle more in line with the cartoon and comic than the vintage figure.

Overall, this is the classic Roadblock. The separate webbing is an upgrade from the vintage version.  The camo is a little lighter on his shirt than the vintage figure. But hey, it's camo.

The one thing I'm not sure of on this figure is the huge pocket thingee on his left leg.  If it was sculpted as an add on pouch I'd maybe get it. But I can't imagine where you'd buy pants like that. It just doesn't work as a cargo pocket. No wonder he needs suspenders.

I have only two very small issues with Mr. Block. One is his head.  There's a real bad seam on the left side of mine. Again this may only be a limited issue.  The seam actually has a bit of flash sticking out from the side of his head. I'm a bit nervous to take an Exacto to it since, with the shaved head, there's no detail to hide a mistake in. The second issue is his left hand. It's sculpted to hold a huge gun and looks odd without anything in it.

Last up is Cobra's weapon merchant. I never understood Destro. On the cartoon, and the comics (from my limited exposure), Destro is smarter and more capable than any of the Cobra command team. So if he wants to help them take over the world, why not just do it himself? But, I digress. (I know, I'll get email explaining why.)

This is pretty much the classic cartoon Destro look. Black surplus seventies jumpsuit with a big red collar. I'm guessing the webbing piece that is sculpted and left unpainted makes more sense if he has his backpack. 

Similar to Roadblock's cargo pants, Destro has a couple of minor costume scale issues. The first of which is the armament on the back of his gloves. Is this really a convenient place to carry anything that big? Apparently, big armament requires a big holster, as well.  His holster is huge for such a normal looking firearm.  This leads back to the whole functional versus non-functional holster issue, that was present through the whole recent Indiana Jones line.

Overall, I'm pleased to have a pretty iconic looking Destro for my collection. There are two small paint issues with him though.  The first is another stray dot. This one is a stray dot of red on his left leg. Because it's red on black it really stands out.

The second issue is a touch more complicated.  Destro's neck is painted silver to semi mimic his vac metalized head. It doesn't look as bad as it sounds. The collar of the jumpsuit covers most of the neck.  The shadow of his head does a good job of masking it from the front. Really nothing to complain about in the appearance department.

However, I'm guessing the paint wasn't dry when his head was popped on.  I can not get his head to turn or pivot. I've debated on really trying to force it free, but decided against it.  The collar would have limited the movement any way. (How does that mask work, by the way?)

The last "figure" is actually intended to be Roadblock's accessory.  It's one of Destro's genetically altered strangler vines.  I have to say these look pretty neat for basically being an aquarium accessory. It's the little set pieces that can really add to a display or diorama. It's good to see Hasbro recognizing that fact. Making these "bendy" would have made them more functional, than visual, however.

Because of the bigger pieces in this set, Roadblock and Destro get a bit short changed on the accessory side of things. Destro has a pistol tucked in his holster. It's a small grey automatic. Roadblock has a knife. It looks like the handle may have been modified to fit his hand. I doubt it will fit in some of the other Joes' hands.

I won't miss Destro's backpack or Roadblock's helmet. Neither was really seen much with either. I do miss Roadblocks gun. I'm a little disappointed that this version of the character didn't come with the trade mark 50 cal.  Guess I'll have to order something from Maruaders to fill his hands with. I've got a bunch of extra Joe weapons from the vintage Accessory Pack #1 to tide me over until I can get something appropriate.

Every woman knows how to accessorize and Lady Jaye is no exception. She's got a black automatic that fits in her holster.  She also comes with the cartoon perfect version of her javelin backpack. In it are a javelin handle with two different tips. She also comes with a one piece javelin that is put together.  Word of caution. This was loose in my box and I almost didn't see it. It was very near a victim of a roaming curious dog.

The main reason for people to be interested in this set is, of course, the Weather Dominator. I have to say this was something I was more impressed with out of the package. Not only does it have great detailing, but it splits in to it's constituent pieces. There's a nifty little control panel on the back of the base that has some handles, as well. There's a bit of a scale issue with the overall piece, however. It's considerably smaller than it should be. I figure it's about half the size it should be, but that appears to vary a bit through out the DVD. Considering I was expecting a really low quality chunk of plastic, this piece really was a big surprise. Really well done, Hasbro. If the blueprints for the Weather Dominator had been included, it would have been perfect.

The next big draw for this set is another big piece. This is a piece of the MASS device from a different cartoon mini-series.  Each of the DVD packs came with a different piece of it. It's basically a big square with a round opening in the top. There's some light detailing all round. A couple of foot pegs finish off the back deck. The blueprints for the MASS device are included, also. All put together, I'm guessing it would be a pretty neat centerpiece for a display. 

The really cool thing about this piece of the MASS device is that can act as a base for the Weather Dominator. Three peg holes in the bottom of the Dominator match up to three pegs around the center hole of the MASS piece.  Pretty clever thinking. It's a interchangeable build your own accessory. I have to say that is pretty impressive to me, and really well thought out. 

There are few other things I need to mention.  The first being the DVD. I was really expecting just the disc in a paper sleeve, but got a slim line case with a printed cover in it.  Kudos for that. The cartoon is everything I remember, It really brought back some kid memories.

There are also file cards and stands in the back for the figures. The stands are the same that come with the single carded versions, with Destro's being a Cobra one. The file cards are a tad changed from the single carded versions. They also are worded to play into the Weather Dominator storyline. But they are also die cut, so no need to cut them out!